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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26785531">Welcome to the funeral</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerStormFlower/pseuds/SummerStormFlower'>SummerStormFlower</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Lego Ninjago</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Crying, Death, Funeral, Gen, Grief, Half-Siblings, I made one person up, Jay’s father dies, Jay’s world is kinda turned upside down, Loss, Mourning, Original Character - Freeform, Sad, Siblings, he finds some stuff out about his biological family, his mother doesn’t recognize him</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:42:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>769</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26785531</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerStormFlower/pseuds/SummerStormFlower</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jay goes to a funeral. It opens a whole batch of boxes Jay never knew about, let alone was prepared for.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>68</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Welcome to the funeral</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I’m sad :(<br/>So I wrote this.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jay saw in the newspaper and heard it on the radio at the same time. It was a calm early morning when Jay found out. Famous actor Cliff Gordon, most known for his role as Fritz Donnegan, had died. </p>
<p>Jay’s father.</p>
<p>He doesn’t cry. He didn’t know the man, after all. But something cracks inside him; perhaps a small piece of his heart. It leaves him feeling empty. He doesn’t say a word to anyone for hours.</p>
<p>Jay never knew the man—his father. But... he had wanted to. </p>
<p>He just... never mustered up the courage to go see him.</p>
<p>And now it’s too late.<br/>____________________________</p>
<p>Jay attends the funeral service. Family, friends, and hundreds of fans are there. Jay blends right in.</p>
<p>It’s a nice service. The family has countless good things to say about him. There’s a lot of tears. </p>
<p>Jay finds out that he isn’t the only kid Cliff had. A girl with brown hair, still in high school and no more than sixteen, calls him ‘Dad’ when she stands up front to say a few things about him. Jay can see the family resemblance. Between her and Cliff. Between her and himself. They have the same blue eyes.</p>
<p>Jay swallows hard. He’d grown up an only child, never knowing he was adopted. Don’t misunderstand, Jay loves his mom and dad. He loves them more than anything, truly. But he’d been curious about his biological side...</p>
<p>Like if he was the only one.</p>
<p>At Cliff Gordon’s funeral, Jay finds out he has a younger half-sister. Her name is Gail. Jay heard someone say her name. He also learned that she was named after their grandmother.</p>
<p>It’s so overwhelming, Jay leaves to get some fresh air when she’s done speaking. He stands outside for a long time, breathing in and out deliberately. When he turns to go back inside, he hesitates. </p>
<p>Scared that he’ll find out he has more than one sibling.</p>
<p>Learning that he has one sister he never knew about is enough for one day. </p>
<p>Eventually, he does go back inside and finds his seat once again. </p>
<p>It’s just Gail. She’s the only one.</p>
<p>When the service is over, everybody drives to the graveyard and watches Cliff Gordon’s casket be lowered into the ground. </p>
<p>Gail cries long and hard. Jay’s overcome with the painful ache to hug her, but he doesn’t. </p>
<p>Just keeps aching.<br/>____________________________</p>
<p>“He was a wonderful man,” a quiet feminine voice whispers next to Jay. </p>
<p>Jay looks. An older woman is standing beside him. Her hair’s greying, but her wrinkles aren’t all that defined. And she’s small. She’s a small, short woman. </p>
<p>And there’s something so awfully and painfully familiar about her.</p>
<p>“He must have been,” Jay whispers back, gazing at his father’s name on the gravestone. “A lot of people loved him.”</p>
<p>The woman beside him nods. “So many people loved him. He was kind.”</p>
<p>Jay looks around. There’s too many people to count. He spots Gail again. He quickly looks at the ground. </p>
<p>“I was married to him for a time,” the woman says suddenly.</p>
<p>Jay’s eyes widen. He stares at the woman. </p>
<p>There are tears on the woman’s cheeks. “We had a son together,” she croaks.</p>
<p>Jay inhales shakily.</p>
<p>“But,” the woman says sorrowfully, “we couldn’t keep him. We couldn’t provide for him. And as it turned out, without him, Cliff and I couldn’t be together.”</p>
<p>Jay is frozen, but every part of him is trembling.</p>
<p>“So we split up,” the woman says, drying her eyes. She has blue eyes.</p>
<p>Like Jay.</p>
<p>“I wonder... how our baby boy is doing,” she murmurs.</p>
<p>Jay’s sure he’s about to break.</p>
<p>Then the woman smiles apologetically at him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you all that,” she says, still sniffling. “I’m told I have a bit of a big mouth.”</p>
<p>Jay is voiceless.</p>
<p>“I should go,” the woman then says. She smiles sadly and turns. </p>
<p>Jay stares at her back, as she starts to walk away. He breathes in and out, holds for several seconds, releases. Repeats this three times before his lungs stop burning long enough for him to speak. </p>
<p>“I’m sure he’s happy!” Jay exclaims. </p>
<p>The woman turns to face him again, her eyes large with alarm. “What?”</p>
<p>Jay takes a moment to breathe again. He gulps. “Your son,” he tells her, “I’m sure he has a happy life.”</p>
<p>The woman looks like she might cry again. Then she gives Jay a big beautiful smile. </p>
<p>“Thank you.”</p>
<p>And then she leaves.</p>
<p>Jay watches her go. </p>
<p>He looks at Gail again.</p>
<p>He looks at his father’s gravestone. </p>
<p>And Jay cries.</p>
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